Blood and Misconceptions
by HIMluv
Summary: DracoOriginal character, Golden Trio involved. A mysterious new girl joins our favorite Gryffindors and Slytherin in their final year at Hogwarts. Will she bring them closer together or push them even further apart, when unity is oh so important as the wa
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Just so you know, I've never written a Harry Potter fic before and it's only my second attempt at a fic ever... So please bear with me. This is a Draco/Original character fic, but The Golden Trio do come into play. So here comes the first chapter of ** Blood and Misconceptions**.

Disclaimer: I'm only sayin' this once so listen up and listen good; I don't own Harry Potter, anything you recognize is not mine but J.K. Rowling's. The plot is my own thank you very much, and if it is similar to anyone else's I'm terribly sorry for the coincidence.

It was an unbelievably stormy night, the night this tale starts. It was an odd storm too considering the fact that it was the middle of July in Britain. The wind was howling and blowing with the ferocity of a hurricane, no one in their right mind would be out in this weather. As the lightning crashes down to the earth, we see someone who is evidently not in their right mind, but as soon we see them, the flash is over and they are submersed into blackness again. But not total blackness. Ahead there are many well lit windows of an apparently huge castle. This person makes their way into the monstrous and very ancient building without making a single sound, their black cloak fluttering out behind them silently. Without once taking a single glance at anything around them they march quietly into one of the many halls and stop before two stone Gargoyles. Here the cloaked person pauses, and strokes their chin thoughfully.

"Jolly Rancher." The person, whose voice is decidedly female, says smoothly. It would send shivers up your back if you could have heard it. The Gargoyles spring to life suddenly revealing a winding, moving staircase. Without a moment's hesitation the woman steps forward and allows the staircase to bring her to her final destination, Albus Dumbledore's office. She knocks once and walks in, and there he sits with that ever serene smile on his gentle, wizened face.

"Ah, Miss Rainsborough. Please come in, have a seat." He says benignly, and she complies, "What can I do for you this evening? Surely your visit is of some importance since I have not heard from you in six years." He continued. He watches her as she takes in his rather busy office, she pays very close attention to Fawkes and starts to lose focus on why she was even there. "Miss Rainsborough?" He rouses her from her thoughts.

"Oh. Sorry Professor." She said in her icy voice, " Well as you know Beauxbatons will no longer have me, Madame Maxime absolutely refuses to have me back." Her voice has a soft accent to it, though it's hard to place it, more of an accent on t's and d's, especially at the end of her words. " I was wondering, since it is my seventh year of schooling, if I could finish it out here, at Hogwarts? I would rather not venture to ask to attend Durmstrang; it would be a waste of my time."

Dumbledore wasn't surprised, after all he was one of the most forgiving people in the wizarding community, and who was he to deny this girl the chance to finish her education? Of course he would allow her to attend Hogwarts, he would not prevent it just because... oh well it wasn't important. "Of course Miss Rainsborough, you may come to Hogwarts this year and you'll be treated like any other student. You will have to be sorted of course which will be a little odd, considering we've never sorted a student so old, but no matter. Your book list will arrive like everyone else's and I'm assuming you know all about Platform Nine and Three Quarters?" He asked happily. This girl had great potential.

Her head had snapped up so fast when he had said she could attend that her hood fell down, and we are finally given a view of her face. She was gorgeous, but in an almost eerie way. She had black, waist length hair, pale skin that could rival a Malfoy, and shocking stormy blue eyes that seemed to go on forever. Infact her eyes reminded Dumbledore of what the lake looked like outside right about now, and he had to admit, she'd grown up quite nicely. "Thank you Professor, thank you so very much. You won't regret it, I promise you that. Thank you." She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath, but she let it out loudly, so loudly that Dumbledore chuckled at her. She would have blushed, but given the circumstances...

"You are aware that the staff must be informed, Miss Rainsborough." He stated almost offhandedly, and she nodded in reply. " Will things be odd for you, if they know?" He asked softly.

Dumbledore was given a smirk that both Malfoy men would be quite jealous of, as she said, " When have _odd_ things ever bothered me? My whole _life_ is odd."

And with that she bowed graciously out of his office.

Dumbledore took this time to go over her school records from Beauxbatons, and he was quite impressed. While this girl had a personality to be compared to young Mr. Malfoy her marks were better to be compared with Miss Granger. It was then that Dumbledore realized, he would now have to _seriously_ consider who to make Head Girl this year!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: All right. I'm gonna go ahead and write this and post it when I get reviews. Italics are either someone's thoughts, dreams or there for emphasis. Now for some characters you recognize...

_Hermione Granger was reading in the Hogwarts library, her nose burried very deeply into Hogwarts: A History III(What you didn't know!). She didn't even notice a particularly loathed blond step in. _

"_Having fun, Mudblood?" He whispered cruely in her ear, effectively making her jump out of her skin._

"_What do you want, Malfoy?" She spat at him. He was the last person she wanted to interrupt her reading._

"_Well I noticed that Potty and Weasel were sans everyone's favorite mudblood, so I figured that you were here; and once again I am correct." He said smuggly and then flashed that famous Malfoy smirk._

"_You avoided my question. What do you want?Better yet, just go find your illiterate cronies and get out of my hair!" She said loudly, it surprised her Madam Pince wasn't ushering them out of the library. But then she took a look around and she realized she wasn't in the library anymore, and Malfoy had disappeared as well. Then it dawned on her where she was, only one place in the world had that horrible veil. She shuddered as she looked at it, Sirius had fallen through it two years ago. However, her walk down memory lane was abruptly ended when she heard someone shout and watched a flash of red light collide into the wall behind her. "Shit!" She grabbed for her wand but it wasn't there. "What am I going to do?" She asked outloud._

"_Your going to die!" Hermione whipped around to be staring down the wand of Lucius Malfoy. She swallowed loudly and he laughed in her face. He took in a deep breath and Hermione heard him start an Unforgivable Curse, but suddenly she heard something tapping..._

Hermione sat bolt upright so fast she nearly threw her back out, and then she exhaled very loudly. "It was only a dream." She said, trying to calm her rushing heart, "Just a dream..." But then she realized she really did hear something tapping. It was an owl, a school owl to be exact, tapping on her window. Hermione instantly hurtled herself out of bed, the booklist had finally arrived! But there was another note attached to it, and it was from Dumbledore. She ripped it open mercilessly, she had to know what he had to say.

Dear Miss Granger,

Please come to Headquarters as soon as possible we have much to talk about before the upcoming school year. Bring your things as I'm sure you would like to remain with the Weasleys and Harry will be arriving in a few days' time.

Thank you,

Albus Dumbledore

This was great! She got to go back to Grimmauld Place and see Harry and Ron! She immediately started loading up her trunk, and tossed the unopened book list on top of everything. She ran downstairs and asked her parents if she could spend the rest of the summer with the Weasleys, to which they agreed. She said her goodbye's quickly and apperated away with her trunk( she had turned seventeen and had already passed her apperating tests.).

When she arrived she knocked loudly and was greeted by Ginny's grinning face. "Oh Hermione!" She squealed. Ginny's high pitched shriek brought along the shriek of someone else not completely welcomed. "Oh, Damn, mom's not gonna be happy with me!" Ginny yelled over Mrs. Black's shrieks of, "MUDBLOODS, BLOOD TRAITORS, FILTH, SCUM," and such.

"You guy's haven't figured out how to get rid of that portrait yet?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"No, and she's been even worse since she hasn't had Kreacher to order around." Ginny was screaming to be heard over the also screaming painting. By then others had finally arrived on the scene to shut the old hag up, and Ginny tried to sneak away, but Mrs.Weasley caught her by the back of her robes. She took a deep breath getting real red when Remus reminded her gently that if she intended to yell at Ginny do it in the Kitchen so they wouldn't have to deal with Mrs. Black twice in ten minutes.

So Remus helped Hermione with her trunk and then she had to ask, "Ginny mentioned that Kreacher wasn't around anymore, was he freed?" But Remus had already cut her off.

"No Hermione, you know we couldn't free him, he knew to much. He died, in his room." He said as gently as he could. Kreacher's death hadn't affected him in the slightest but he knew Hermione would be affected. And he was right. She sniffed trying to keep back tears, so once more Lupin attempted to keep things under control, "It was painless and quick. He died peacefully in his sleep. He didn't suffer at all." He said quickly.

"You're sure?" She said thickly through her unshed tears. Lupin nodded his head and started to take her down to the kitchen, where everyone was waiting to see her. When they walked into the kitchen Lupin had to dodge several redheads to get to the table safely.

Ginny, Ron, and Fred and George were talking with Hermione non-stop and she was so happy that she was back, she had missed them all so much. But suddenly they heard the doorbell, and instantly Mrs. Black started screaming again. They all ran upsatirs, and sure enough it was Harry! They hurried him down to the kitchen where they could actually be heard while Remus took care of Mrs. Black again.

"Harry! Oh, Dumbledore said you wouldn't be here for a few more days! I'm so happy to see you. Are you okay? Did they treat you nice? Did you eat enough?" Hermione was rambling on while holding Harry in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh, how touching. The reunion. Don't you worry, Granger. I'm sure Potter can at least _feed_ himself, but if not, that's what _house elfs_ are for. Oh, I forgot. You don't have any do you?" Sneered their worst enemy, of their age at least.

"What the hell are _you _doing here, Malfoy?" Ron growled. How had he gotten here? Surely he hadn't been invited. Had the Death Eaters discovered where Headquarters was? But everything was answered when Dumbledore walked in with Snape following close behind.

"He is with us." Dumbledore said calmly, "and everything will be explained tonight at the meeting, to which all of you but Miss Weasley are allowed to attend." He continued. This didn't keep the Weasleys from glaring daggers at Draco, who had immediately lost the, 'I'm better than everyone else' appearance as soon as Dumbledore had stepped in. And it had sent Ginny into a rage.

"Why can't I go? It's not like someone won't tell me afterward anyway!" She said very loudly and stormed off to her room. Everyone, including Malfoy, sniggered at that. But when Fred saw him laughing, he threw an apple in Draco's general direction and happened to hit him squarely in the back of his head. Everyone cracked up at this except for Snape, who never laughed at anything.

Everyone started to file in for the meeting. Malfoy sat as far in the corner as he could and sat there rubbing his head. Fred couldn't help but chuckle and Malfoy threw him death glares, but that only made everyone else team up against him. _As if they weren't already_, he thought. Soon everyone had found a seat and were waiting for Dumbledore to begin.

"Alright. Now that everyone is seated and ready, I will explain young Mr. Malfoy's appearance here tonight." Dumbledore started and Draco instantly ducked his head and kept anyone from meeting his silver eyes. "Young Mr. Malfoy came to me at the end of last year saying he had reached a decision. I had asked what decision and he told me he wanted nothing to do with his Father's or Lord Voldemort's plans." There were several deep intakes of breath, and not just because of the Dark Lord's name. "Draco told me he did not want to become a Death Eater, but that he knew no way around it, and that he was to be inducted that coming summer. I told him that I also knew no way around it, and as he sits here with us today, he _is_ a Death Eater." More intakes of breath. _That's getting really old, I mean, is it really all that shocking... I guess it is_, Draco smirked. "He will obviously be doing something very similar to what Professor Snape does, but his most important roles will be played over the holidays, seeing as we don't see Slytherins leaving school all the time to do their duties as a Death Eater. He will be coming and going the rest of the summer, and other school vacations. If anyone," At this Dumbledore looked at Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry, " sees Draco leaving school..." There was a dramatic pause, "expect the worst."

At this grim statement, even Draco had a solemn look on his face.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Ok. Here's the next one...

After hearing Dumbledore's grim words everyone turned to Snape, who would normally report at this time, but Dumbledore suddenly continued. "Severus has nothing to report at this time, he is here to help Draco settle in." He said lightly, as if trying to avoid conflict.

"What do you mean, 'settled in'?" Hermione said quickly, "He's not staying here, is he?" She sounded near hysterics. _Please say he's not staying here, please, please, please. _She was begging no one in particular, but whoever it was didn't feel like making Hermione happy.

"You don't like it anymore than I do Granger... believe me." Draco answered. He liked seeing the look of pure horror on her face, and was glad that something as simple as his prolonged prescence could cause it. It was amusing. Now that it was certain, all the Weasley children, Harry and Hermione groaned. _How could this be happening?_ Each and everyone of them thought. Suddenly Dumbledore spoke again.

"Now for the more important news," He looked to Harry, Ron and Hermione, " You may go now." Draco smirked at how easily they were dismissed, "You too Mr. Malfoy, you've already been briefed." _Dammit, that means I might actually have to speak to them, god, this is worse than I thought._ Draco didn't know if he could handle all of them, those twins were sharp, and had damn good aim. They all shuffled out into the hall and Draco at once started upstairs to his room.

"Hey Malfoy!" He heard Potter shout. _Why can't they just make this easy? It's not like I want to intrude on their lives, I'm much happier having nothing to do with them._ "What Potter!" Draco responded without turning around. "Well, I just wanted to say that while I'm not sure of your motives, Dumbledore seems to trust you, and he's yet to lead us astray, so welcome to The Order of the Phoenix." Harry said calmly, it wasn't everyday you attempted to make peace with an old enemy. "You're right. You don't know about my motives, and I'd like to keep it that way... but, Thank You. I appreciate your attempt to make peace." Draco said sincerely, and flashed the Golden Trio a smile... not a smirk, a smile.

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Draco's room was just below the attic and one of the smaller ones, but he was also the only student that didn't have to share, either. And was he grateful for that. If he had had to share a room with one of them he would have ended up pulling his own hair out by its roots! Presently there was a knock on his door. _Bloody hell, can't a man have a moment's peace around this place?_ He stood to answer it and had every intention of being rude, but it was the youngest Weasley, and she had never really done anything to him, so he played it off to indifference.

"Yes?" He questioned cooly. " My mum says to tell you we're going to Diagon Alley tomorrow for school things and that dinner's ready." She said rather stiffly, she didn't trust him. " Why, thank you Weasley..." He tried to erase all the sarcasm from his voice, but it didn't quite work. She shot him a dirty look and started downstairs. He promptly followed. Hey it might be food cooked by a Weasley, but damn, it was still food, and he was a guy so he really wasn't very picky at all.

He sat at the farthest corner again, while everyone else seemed to want to crowd around eachother and talk non-stop. Everyone but Harry that is. Draco watched with dull curiousity as pointless conversation passed through the kitchen and as everyone but himself and his enemy, joined in.

"Draco?" He jumped at being addressed so casually here. "Yes?" He responded quite politely. "Do you need to make a withdrawal from Gringott's tomorrow?" It was Mrs. Weasley talking to him. "No Madame, I already have done so today. Thank you though." He said, no hint of condescension or sarcasm in his voice or manner. Everyone about fell off their seats. He was actually being nice! Draco Malfoy, nice! Those words didn't belong in the same sentence! What he did next shocked everyone.

"May I be excused Mr. Weasley? I'm quite tired and would like to go to bed." Draco was used to asking before leaving the table. Stand up at home without asking first and you would be sore for a week. For a moment Mr. Weasley didn't know how to respond, but then he said, "Draco you really don't have to ask me that, of course you can go to bed. I'm not your guardian. You're your own person now, you are no longer stuck in Lucius's clutches." Everyone looked up surprised to hear that said, what did he mean Lucius's clutches? Draco looked mortified, "Ex... excuse me... thank you Mrs. Weasley, it was delightful." And with that he hurried out of the kitchen into the relative privacy of his room.

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"What do you think my dad meant by 'Lucius's clutches'?" Ron asked quietly. They weren't supposed to be talking, they were supposed to be sleeping but he couldn't help himself... he had to know what Harry thought. "It seems to me Ron, that Malfoy hadn't wanted to stay at his father's place but was forced to, that's what I think." Harry mumbled. He hadn't thought so deeply on the matter; he was tired. Discovery could wait until the morning. "You think that's all it meant? I mean did you see his face? He looked like someone had read a passage from his diary to the whole school!" Ron waited for Harry to reply, but he didn't. "Harry? You awake? Harry?" _Oh, well. We'll probably figure it out tomorrow._ And with that, he rolled over and fell asleep.

Meanwhile, a room down, two young ladies were having a similar conversation. "What did your dad mean, do you think, Gin?" Hermione's mind had been buzzing since the slip up at dinner. It was clearly evident that Mr. Weasley knew something about Malfoy he wasn't supposed to divulge, but what? "Well 'Mione, I don't rightly know. It seemed like something really bad though, the way Malfoy looked. Like he'd seen a ghost. And did you hear him stutter? It took him a little to pull himself together again. But he still thanked my mum... who knew he was so gracious?" That's what Ginny thought on the matter anyway. "I certainly didn't know he was, what with mudblood this and mudblood that. Though he probably won't say it as often anymore... Gin? Ginny?" Ginny had fallen asleep, but Hermione had been falling asleep as well, so she didn't bother to wake her up and went to sleep.

A floor up, two redheaded twins were snoring loudly in their own seperate dream land, not giving a flying fig about Draco Malfoy or their father's mistake.

And just one more floor up, lay the young man all the converation was about. He was wide awake wondering what his father was doing. Was he doing Death Eater things? Was he murdering innocents? Was he venting his anger on the House elfs and his wife? Was he kissing the Dark Lord's ass as usual? All of these thoughts were whizzing through his troubled mind, keeping him awake. What he had said at dinner about wanting to go to bed had been true, but now that he was there he couldn't fall asleep. He went to his window and looked at the stars, they always seemed to ease his ever worried mind. They made it seem like he was too small and insignificant to make a difference in the scheme of things. And even though he knew differently, he could feel it working, as he strestched (seeming very much like a cat as he did so) and yawned. He went back to bed, and just before he drifted into a fitful sleep he murmered, "Night mum. I hope you're okay. I hope he didn't hurt _you_ because _I'm_ away."


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: All right... I've been told by a couple of reviewers that this is a Mary Sue fic. And you know what? That sucks! I don't want to be predictable, so I'm gonna let things be a little different. Infact, depending on where I end up going with this it could be a Draco/Hermione fic. I don't really know. All I know is that the plot I had in my head fit that Mary Sue thing to a T, and that pissed me off, so it's had a good tweaking... and I think it might work now. Bear with me, and I think you'll be happy with the result. Thanx to those of you who were kind and constructive in their reviews. And to those of you who weren't... If you take the time to read my fic and then take the extra time to review, just to tell me it was boring or it sucked, then shut the HELL UP! You're just wasting my time by writing a pointless review. That's all for now, on to chapter 4!

Hermione woke up early. Too early. Six o'clock early. She had slept fine, but was a little stiff seeing as she was used to her own bed. _No sense being awake and having no one to talk to._ She thought, but did she go back to sleep? No, she woke Ginny up. "Gin... Ginny, wake up." Hermione said, poking Ginny in the arm. But all Ginny did was moan, swat at Hermione's hand and roll over. "Dammit Ginny! WAKE UP!" She yelled rather closely to Ginny's ear. This worked. Ginny was jolted into waking and then, surprised by Hermione's closeness, flung herself out of the bed. She landed with a hard _plunk_, which woke Harry in the next room, who in turn woke Ron.

By the time they all reached the stairs they could smell bacon, eggs and... was that pancakes? Ron pushed Ginny out of the way, and ran as quietly as he could past Mrs. Black's portrait down into the kitchen. When the others arrived Ron already had a plate and was busy shoveling a little bit of everything into his mouth. Ginny threw him an ugly look, which he didn't notice, and helped herself to breakfast. Hermione and Harry followed suit. Just as Harry was sitting down at the table, the kitchen door was flung open and an odd sight met them. It was Fred and George, looking very tired and very disheveled, but it appeared that something had gone wrong in the clothing process. Fred's red shirt didn't match his brown pants very well at all, and George was wearing one of his own shoes and one of Fred's. Which of course left Fred with one of is own shoes and one of his twin's. Everyone started to laugh, but the twins didn't seem to get the joke, they just got their food and sat at the table in a deep trance like state. "Would someone please go get Draco, he's still asleep." Asked Mrs. Weasley. At this everyone snapped into attention, even the half asleep twins. "I'm not doing it!" Everyone said at once. But Mrs. Weasley threw them an evil look that plainly said that someone was going to get him. "We'll play rock, paper, scissors for it." Harry declared, and everyone nodded. Two do-overs later, Ginny had to go get Malfoy, and she grumbled all the way.

She knocked on his door and heard him groan inside. _Ha! He hates getting up as much as I do!_ She knocked again, but he didn't answer, so she let herself in. He was sound asleep on his stomach, the pillow thrust forcefully underneath his head. A slightly upset look was on his face and as she drew nearer he started to toss over, but he then fell into deep sleep again. A mischievious look came to Ginny's face, this was going to be fun. She walked over quietly and poked him right between the shoulder blades. He nearly jumped right out of his skin. Without a moment's hesitation he drew his wand on Ginny(it had been under his pillow), who was, by now, equally frightened. He looked upon his 'attacker' and let out a long breath. "What the hell are you doing?" He asked quietly. "Well good morning to you too." She said shakily, a Death Eater had just drawn his wand on her! "Are you ok?" He asked, even though he knew he hadn't hurt her, she looked pretty shaken up. "Oh I'm fine, but now you're gonna get it!" and before Draco had a moment to contemplate what she said, he got a faceful of pillow! Ginny started laughing hysterically, then had to run downstairs to get away from him. After a few moments of chasing her around the kitchen table, Draco realized where he was and how he looked. His hair stuck up at odd angles, his shirt was wrinkled beyond belief, and he was wearing his forest green boxers!

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Everyone in the kitchen had been chatting happily until Ginny ran in followed by a very amused looking Malfoy. No one had any idea what was going on, but there were no wands in sight so Fred and George decided to watch it like a spectator sport. As Ginny and Malfoy ran haphazardly around the table Mrs. Weasley yelled at them to stop while Fred and Goerge cheered Ginny on. Suddenly Malfoy stopped and looked around, then looked down at himself, his cheeks started to turn a slight pink color as he cleared his throat and said, "Umm... Please excuse me." And dashed back upstairs. As soon as he left everyone but Mrs. Weasley was laughing like madmen. Fred and George were congratulating Ginny on a job well done when Malfoy returned. He was now completely dressed, not a wrinkle in sight, and his hair, though not slicked back, was combed and at its place just below his ears.

"Eat up Draco, we have a busy day today." Molly ordered kindly. Draco declined, saying he wasn't one for breakfast, but Mrs. Weasley didn't approve of his skipping meals, so she sat a plate brimming with bacon and eggs in front of him. He looked at it as if it would bite him, but he grabbed his fork and ate it anyway. "I'm going to go get my booklist; I haven't even looked at it yet!" Hermione said excitedly, and Draco couldn't help but snort at her; however, he had just been swallowing a mouth full of eggs, so his mockery was lost to a round of coughs. No one even noted the fact that he was possibly choking, but that didn't shock him either.

Suddenly a horrible scream was heard from upstairs! Everybody jumped out of their seats and rushed to Hermione and Ginny's room, ignoring the now shrieking Mrs. Black. Harry got there first, but stopped suddenly just in the doorway. "Hermione? Are you ok? What were you screaming about?" He asked urgently, but found himself gasping for air as Hermione, for the second time in two days, was hugging him to death. "What? What is it?" He asked again, as she mumbled something against his chest. "I was made Head Girl! I was made Head Girl!" She was near hysterics. "Is that all?" Draco drawled coldly, "I mean honestly! Did you really expect anything different. Plus we got the booklists yesterday, I mean you should've already known... I did!" He wasn't happy. He was letting his breakfast get cold to see if Granger was ok. Something just didn't add up in his mind. _Food before Granger, Malfoy! Not the other way around!_ He reprimanded himself. "Can we go now? My food is getting cold!" He added as an after thought. He turned and was half way downstairs when Hermione stopped him.

"Hey Malfoy!" She called.

"What now, Granger! I want to eat, because if I don't eat that food, Mrs. Weasley might prepare an entirely new plate, which means I won't be going anywhere today because I will be too sick to move... So spit it out!" He nearly yelled at her.

"Bloody hell, I just wanted to know if you were Head Boy, but damn, just go eat! You're worse than Ron!" She yelled back.

"Of course I'm Head Boy! I thought you were supposed to be smart!" He didn't even get a chance to revel in the anger his smirk would give her, because she slapped it right off his face. Before he could be extremely stupid and retaliate, she stormed downstairs to the kitchen. Ron came up to Draco and whispered, "That's what happens when you make Hermione mad, although you _are_ the only person I've ever seen her slap. Multiple times." He was trying to rile Draco up, but he just replied, "You don't have to remind me, a slap from Hermione stings for a long time, both on the face and the ego." He then walked gracefully and silently down the stairs.

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Diagon Alley. Hermione had been waiting to go there all day, she wanted her books and she wanted them now, they weren't doing her any good sitting on the bookstore shelf! Malfoy had had to Floo there first and then give them plenty of space to come through, so that it didn't look like they had come together. He quickly and quietly bought his books and other stationary necessities, like parchment and quills, and then moved on to restock his potions ingrediants. Hermione, Ron and Harry were much more noisy and slow, but definitely had more fun. It took the four resident students of Grimmauld Place, three hours to get all the things they would need. Draco had been done and waiting for two of them. _It has to be Granger... there is no way Potty and Weasel could spend that much time shopping for school! It's just not possible!_ They were to all show up at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor and order something, then they would, one by one, Floo back to Headquarters.

Ginny showed up an hour and half into Draco's wait. It was just getting dark, and he could see the Golden Trio walking up the street, when he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his left forearm. _Shit! This is very not good! Fuck!_ He stood up quickly, Ginny gave him a questioning glance which he ignored. He walked quickly onto the street, where he 'accidentally' walked into Hermione. He grabbed her tighlty by the arm and whispered forcefully, "I have to go, Molly will understand." She looked at him, he glanced at his arm, she gasped, then nodded her head. Before Ron and Harry could ask any questions Draco apperated away.

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The burning was no longer a sensation, it was now very painful, and Draco was beginning to wonder if cutting the Mark off his arm would even dull the pain, when he arrived at the designated meeting room. It wasn't really a room at all, it was a tomb, and it gave him the creeps. His father was already there, as was Snape. Draco stood in his position in the circle quietly, waiting for the others to arrive. This part always made him nervous. He was the newest member, and even though his father was the right hand man, Draco was still not completey trusted, and now was the best time for the Dark Lord to take a peek into his mind. It made Draco paranoid, the idea of being raped, essentially, of having his thoughts violated. But there was nothing he could do; he had very limited abilities to keep his thoughts safe, just enough to protect the Order... that was all. Everything else became fair game for Voldemort's amusement. The loud cracks and pops of Death Eaters apperating into the tomb brought the Dark Lord to his feet. Soon every place in the circle was filled, everyone was there. The fun was about to begin. _Oh joy..._

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Hermione had been having a great day, and although she was forced into spending alot more time in Quality Quidditch Supplies than she wanted too, she knew it was only fair, seeing as how she had forced Harry and Ron to spend an hour in Flourish and Blott's. They were anticipating the ice cream waiting for them at Fortescue's, when suddenly Malfoy ran into Hermione, grabbed her arm viciously, and whispered cruely into her ear. There was a moment of silence between them, she gasped and he apperated away. "Hermione. What was all that about?" Ron asked worriedly. "Not here! We have to go! Ron go get Ginny and Malfoy's things! NOW!" She had gone into full on boss mode, Ron knew there was no point arguing with her here. She had already gone when Ron, Harry and Ginny started towards the bookshop where they would Floo back to Grimmauld Place. When they arrived back in the kitchen Dumbledore was there trying to calm Mrs. Weasley down. She was very upset that Hermione wouldn't tell what she knew until everyone was there. "Molly, listen to me," Dumbledore was saying, "Hermione is right. This news should only be said once, the more it is repeated the better chance it has of being overheard by the wrong set of ears."

As soon as everyone who lived in the house was together, Hermione said what Draco had told her to. "He said to tell Molly he had to go and that she would understand. His Mark was burning, he left in such a rush, we had to bring his stuff back." Mrs. Weasley didn't seem to want to believe Hermione's story and looked to Dumbledore, who nodded solemnly. "This is Mr. Malfoy's first meeting, besides being inducted. It is certain that things will not go well for him. Lord Voldemort," Everyone but Harry shuddered, "likes to test the boundaries of his new minions' loyalty. Knowing Draco, he will be able to endure more than most inductees, but that only makes his suffering worse." Even Dumbledore looked slightly distraught, though he couldn't compare with Mrs. Weasley. "But Albus, is there nothing we can do? He's so young! He shouldn't have to know what happens at those meetings, let alone take part in it!" It seemed that she had already made Draco her second adopted son, to the abhorrence of the actual Weasley boys. "I'm sorry Molly, but Draco must face this on his own. The most we can do is be there for him when he comes back." Suddenly Hermione found her voice, "But sir, what if he doesn't?"

Dumbledore didn't answer, which only proved how very possible it was that he might never come back.

XXXXXXXXXX

Draco apperated back into Grimmauld Place around midnight. He knew Molly would still be up, waiting for him, so he headed down to the kitchen, not even thinking about how he must look. He stepped in quietly and said as evenly as he could, "Mrs. Weasley? I'm back." But before he had even finished her name she embraced him in the first real hug he had had in years. However, when she felt him flinch and then stiffen, she realized she was hurting him. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry! Are you ok? What happened? Are you hungry?" He had to laugh at her line of questioning. She noted how is laugh and voice seemed different now. In the matter of five hours his immaturity seemed to be forgotten, and she immediately thought of Remus, how he seemed older than he was. That was what had happened to Draco Malfoy tonight.

She knew that the old Draco Malfoy had been lost forever tonight, and she was wondering if, when all was said and done, they would miss the Draco that would laugh and smirk, because Hermione had been right... _He_ might never come back.


End file.
